The importance of goal setting for depression

When depressed as we all know it is very very hard to find the energy, will or wanting to do any task whatsoever. Simply getting up and taking a shower can seem like climbing the largest mountain and a massive effort for those with severe depression. In this post I discuss why goal setting is so important and what to consider when setting your own targets.

So why should I set goals if I am depressed?

Goal setting can help you push yourself to do things you don’t feel like doing if you are depressed and finding it hard. By taking action to do certain things, even if only small, such as starting to wake up earlier or take daily showers and go for a walk can begin to alter your mindset.

How the founder set goals to overcome depression

The goals you set can be a combination of the realistic and the incredible. When I fell ill one of my goals was to learn Spanish in order to expand my horizons around the globe for work opportunity and also I entered the John Moores Painting Prize at the Liverpool Walker Art Gallery which gave me a goal of finishing a painting before the deadline whilst also expressing that stage of my life.

I also set goals of getting healthier physically, even whilst suffering severe social anxiety at the time and not wanting to go out I used Wii Fit & taking my dog for a walk of an evening and lost 2 stone in 4 months!

I had a goal of going for longer and longer walks with my family dog until eventually I ended up travelling to London for the first time alone and then meeting a girl there who was colombian I travelled to Colombia to see her! All this whilst living with social anxiety and depression thus is the power of the goal.

So how do I create some goal setting for depression

I believe setting goals that matter to you will help motivate you to undertake them. Here are 10 ideas to think about.

1. Look for competitions online to use a hobby for a productive purpose
2. What is causing you anguish or sadness. Socially anxious? Can you set small goals to put yourself into situations that challenge your thinking until you can do bigger and bigger challenges?
3. Improve your fitness. Improving your physical fitness will have a knock on effect to your mind, mind body and soul really do affect each other.
4. Upscale. Can you improve a skill? Is there something you have always wanted to learn? There are plenty of online courses now if you suffer with anxiety so improve your ability and you will see yourself in a different light.
5. Believe in your dream. We all have a dream, whether to be financially comfortable, in a happy relationship, to travel more, to find the dream occupation. By setting your dream and believing in it it can drive you to make it happen even if it seems like you will never reach it, it is something that will continue to help you strive towards.
6. Don’t forget about the little goals. Little goals lead to bigger goals so things like getting out of bed early, going on regular walks, ensuring you look after your hygiene daily will help you build back a routine. Routine can be very important, it is just important you have a routine that is good for you and not a bad habit.

Shoot for the moon and even if you miss you will land amongst the stars.

Now you have some basic ideas grab a pen and paper…

GO ON, DO IT RIGHT NOW!

Next, write down the numbers 1 to 10 and put down 10 ideas and goals that you would like to achieve. 1 can be your dream, your most outlandish idea of the perfect life. What would be your perfect situation in life? Is it that you are looking for a great relationship? Is it you want to travel more? Is it you want to start doing more of your hobby?

and as you go down the list don’t forget to add goals such as eating healthier, getting out of bed at a certain time each day, exercising certain amount of time each day, looking after you hygiene as these things are about looking after yourself and your wellbeing.

Below is an example list

To travel to more countries in the next 3 years

To learn Spanish fluently

To learn how to create websites

To meditate more and still my mind

To paint more often and enter competitions

To find a job that can help me find financial stability

To use my story as a tool to help others

To ensure I get out of bed at 9am every day no matter how I feel.

To exercise exercise exercise excercise 30 mins every other day and then increase 2 weeks later to an hour.

To ensure I eat healthy food.

Once you have wrote your list pin it next to your bed so when you wake up you see it every day. I also recommend finding pictures that inspire you ( sometimes known as vision boards which I will discuss in a future post) and putting that next to your goals list, this can help you visualise the life you want more.

I hope you find this brief article useful. What goals do you set and has it helped with your depression?

How do you push yourself to make sure you try to reach each goal through your depression? Please comment in the box below

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Hi folks! John Wilson is the founder of Battle of Mind and Seek A Therapy and a practising web and graphic designer. Before this John was also a part 1 architect in 2008 but due to the recession found it hard to find part 1 positions so retrained as a teacher only to find that wasn't right for him too...this led to him having a severe breakdown due to excessive debts and no opportunity. He had to refocus himself, his life and how he saw the world. It is with these difficult experiences that Battle of Mind was born and the desire for people to know there is a way out of any difficulty they may be facing.
"When things seem to be falling apart they are actually falling together"

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